Disappeared
by AU Authoress
Summary: Gone without a trace. No equipment was found, no scrap of clothing, no lock of hair. There wasn't even a real crime scene. But Holly Short was gone. What happened to her? Who knew? The LEP thought they did, until their number one suspect proves not only to be innocent, but their best hope to find her. But what if she didn't want to be found? XMas special and gift for Kellycat77.
1. Chapter 1

**See... now.. this one is long.**

**If you don't know what I mean, check my CaptainS10 profile. Posted a new one there too, but its short, 'cause it's just a prologue.**

**So.. Christmas special for you guys slash Christmas present for Kellycat77. Technically. Though I have yet to give it to her. So I guess she might end up getting at least the first part of it on here. Oh well. Had to post something. **

**Excuse my horrible title. One of those on the spot ones, and considering I'm not good at them in the first place... yeah, no. **

**Let's just get on with this, shall we? Before I pass out. Read on, guys! Enjoy!**

"Artemis? Are you awake in there?"

Artemis Fowl the Second jumped slightly, half startled but not really surprised at his mother's sudden appearance outside his door. Of course he was awake - he had been since three AM.

He half closed his laptop and sighed, but nevertheless called, "yes, mother - you can come in."

Angeline Fowl opened the door and walked in, slowly shutting it behind her and never moving her eyes off her son. He met her gaze evenly. "Yes?"

She looked him over once, not answering. He had already showered and dressed in a midnight blue suit, and was propped up against the pillows in bed with his laptop on his knees, working. To an outsider, he probably looked like a normal, lazy, moody teenager, albeit one in a suit. But she knew better.

"I'm curious," she said, slowly, watching him intently for any sign of a reaction, "as to why you're still in bed and you haven't come down for breakfast, or had Butler bring you anything up."

Artemis frowned slightly, his brows drawing together as he considered her words. Finally he spoke, turning back to his computer and keep his tone purposely deadpan. "I'm not hungry at the moment. I'll be down for lunch."

Angeline stared at him for a second, then purposely and quickly walked over to press her hand to his forehead. Artemis flinched and frowned, but relented when her hand followed him. _I'm done_, he thought, his shoulders sagging a little.

It only took the span of a few seconds for Angeline to gasp and realize exactly what he'd been hiding. "Artemis! Really, dear, you're burning up! I'll -"

"I already took some medication, mother," he tried to put in, but she was past hearing him.

"-have Butler bring you up some dry toast and some medication, and then call a doctor. Okay? Okay. Good. Rest in the meantime." And then, oblivious to his protests, she leaned down and kissed his forehead before finally turning and exiting the room again.

Artemis groaned and slumped under the sheets, cursing mentally. He knew he should have forced himself out of bed and choked down some breakfast, but for once, he just couldn't.

Sighing, he sat back up and shook himself out of his funk. It was his fault, he supposed. He wanted his mother back. Well, now she was... Back and more motherly than ever.

Oh well. If he was going to be forced to lie low for the day, he was going to get some work done, that's for sure.

Only it was to be a different kind of work than he thought it would be.

Right then, two things happened simultaneously.

The door opened.

His computer went off.

Artemis jumped and looked at his computer, this time genuinely surprised and startled. He wasn't expecting any calls or anything of the sort, and the only other times it was set to go off were if there was an extreme weather warning or he was going bankrupt.

I hope I'm not going bankrupt, he thought sarcastically, reaching for his laptop.

"Sir?" Butler asked. He had come in now, but not far - just a few steps to set the tray he was carrying on his charge's nightstand and before, returning to the door. He hesitated with his hand on the knob, unsure if he should stay or go.

Artemis put up a hand to halt him from going. "Wait," he ordered. "Stay there for a moment. I may need your input on something…. or help, more like."

The manservant frowned, but halted, closing the door and moving over to stand beside the boy. "Alright. May I ask what the matter is, sir?"

He inhaled deeply and nodded. "Looking at this… well, it seems we might have a problem on our hands. It's seems the fairy people aren't quite done with us."

"But we won, didn't we?" questioned the giant, using the terminology Artemis had explained it in the year before. "It should be over. We haven't bothered them, so they won't bother us." He stopped, then added, "well, they shouldn't, anyways."

"Be that as it may," sighed Artemis, "that's not what this message says, and we may very well end up-"

He was forced to quiet when his computer beeped again, signaling what he now knew to be another video call. Gesturing at Butler to remain quiet, he say up a little straighter and answered the call.

A window opened up on the screen and, instantly, the face of a centaur, and a very red little man popped up and filled it.

Artemis stared at them for a minute, with little surprise. It wasn't hard to recognize the commander - he hadn't changed the slightest except for maybe the size of his belly and the shade of his face - and the centaur was presumably the one whom he had communicated with during the last year's siege. _No one new here_, he mused to himself. _Although there does appear to be someone missing_.

"Hello, Commander," he greeted politely. "Foaly."

"Don't 'hello' me, you Mud Welch," growled the elf. Artemis blinked and raised an eyebrow at him. The elf just narrowed his eyes; the centaur, however, backpedaled quite a bit, suddenly looking nervous.

"Look, Fowl, I can't tell you he didn't mean it, but it's really not that high an insult…. don't hurt her, alright? We only called about negotiating, since you haven't contacted us this time."

"Negotiations?" Artemis repeated, slightly dumbfounded by the gibberish they seemed to be speaking. He glanced at Butler, who shook his massive head in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Whom, exactly, would I be inclined to harm?"

Under different circumstances, he wouldn't have straight out admitted that he didn't know what they were saying, what they were calling him for. But under different circumstances, he would have tried to manipulate them and get something from this situation besides the headache that was almost sure to result from this little conversation, and right now he couldn't. Or maybe he just wouldn't? It didn't matter, though - at the moment he couldn't see any way to get anything out of the situation, not with his limited information, which meant he would have to ask for more to find out.

Foaly and Julius seemed to be completely unaware that his confusion was real. They exchanged a quick look, having an unspoken communication between them in that split second. "Don't play us, Fowl," Root said, eyeing him warily. "I just need my officer back. What do you want with her now? We don't have enough gold to pay another ransom."

"I don't need a ransom," Artemis told him honestly, perplexed. Then, under his breath, he mused, almost to himself, "I don't understand it. I'm obviously being held accountable for something, but what?"

Unfortunately for him, his own mikes, not to mention Foaly's, were whisper-sensitive and caught his low words. The centaur's gaze snapped up to him and he snickered. "You don't know? Artemis Fowl… of all people… doesn't know?"

Artemis scowled deeply. _I'm regretting this already,_ he thought. "No, I don't. Not this time. You're interrogating the wrong person. Although.." he added slyly, "I may be willing to help. I'd have to know what's going on first, though."

The fairies exchanged another look. A moment of silent dispute seemed to take place before Root relented.

"Whatever," he finally grunted. "Fill the Mud Boy in." Then he stomped over to his desk and lit up a fungus cigar, flopping into his chair and propping his feet up on the edge of his desk. "And do it fast, if you know what's good for you," he added, when neither of them moved again.

"Right." Foaly turned back towards his com screen and looked at Artemis, who met his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Okay. Here's the heart of it. Holly is missing…. again."

"Captain Short is missing," Artemis repeated slowly, "and you suspected me?"

Foaly opened his mouth to speak, but Root cut him off, his temper getting the better of him. "What time of year is it, Fowl?" Root put in, his irritation blunt in his voice.

"Christmas," replied the boy, equally blunt. "Wha-?"

"Foaly, what was the last mission I sent Captain Short on?" the Commander continued, oblivious to his words.

"To complete the ritual," the centaur muttered, almost indecipherably around his mouthful of carrot. Artemis barely noticed - the gears in his mind were turning.

"It has similar makings to my last crime, so you suspected me," he filled in, his eyes sparkling with comprehension. "It does make sense, in a roundabout way. However, as I have said, I don't have, nor have I seen Captain Short." He shrugged, his head tilted in thought.

Captain Short was missing. He was held responsible. But now they knew it wasn't him. _He _knew it wasn't him. So what was going on? What really happened to Captain Short?

"Do you have any leads?" he asked finally.

"Nothing but you," replied Root. "But there was too many factors that were similar for us not to think of you."

"Yes, I suppose. But _I _have no motive. Think. You know Holly better than I do - does she have any enemies?"

Foaly answered quickly. "No. None so severe as to resort to kidnapping or -ehm, no pun intended - _foul_ play. Just childish rivalries and that sort of thing."

A sprout of an idea planted itself in his mind. He noted it, but held off for the moment on bringing it up. "Perhaps she's surface-bound somewhere? An equipment malfunction, maybe?"

"That's another thing," Foaly said. "That's part of the clue path that led us to you. All her equipment is turned off. Her locator is gone."

"Gone?" That didn't fit. "How is it gone?"

"It's just gone," he repeated. "I can't trace it to anywhere. It's just gone, like it never existed."

Artemis's brows drew together as he thought about it. "Is it still in the computer system?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Of course it's still in the computer. It's just nowhere else. If I bring it up it either says 'no match' or 'unavailable'."

"Did you retrace her steps?"

"What?" That got Root's attention again. He sat up a little in his chair and looked at the human with no small amounts of curiosity and confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I asked. Did you send a scout to retrace her path? You might find more clues that way."

"That's what I suggested," Foaly agreed. "But we don't have the resources. All of our officers are otherwise preoccupied."

"So, then - no scout?"

"No scout."

"I'll do it then."

"What?"

The last exclamation came from everyone except Artemis himself. Even his bodyguard was taken aback by his charge's words. Instantly, several protests came flying at him at once.

"Artemis, you're sick. You know your mother wouldn't approve of you going anywhere in this condition."

"No way, Fowl. We don't have any methods of payment anymore, and I'm not giving you access to my files."

"I'm _absolutely not_ letting a human do my bidding!"

No rewards for guessing who said what there.

Artemis sighed a little at the onslaught. "I won't require a payment or access to anything. Captain Short's safe return and gratitude will be payment enough. The only thing I require is her flight plans."

For a moment, there was silence. Then a soft clicking of keys as Foaly relented and pulled the information up in his computer. Seconds later, Artemis's email dinged.

"That's her path up until the point she disappears," Foaly told him.

"Good. I'll work with that." Artemis moved the video window from center screen and opened the files he'd just received. It was as he expected.

He scrolled up to close out the video communication as his bodyguard cleared his throat. "Yes, Butler?"

"Do you have a plan, sir?"

He glanced up and flashed him a slightly more fatigued than usual version of his vampire smile. "Of course I have a plan," he said softly, an underlying edge to his voice that suggested what anyone who had the slightest inkling of knowledge of him would already know. "When don't I?"

With that, he cut the connection, closed his computer, and stood up. "Well, then," he said, stretching for a moment and looking at his bodyguard, "let us go. It seems we have an elf to find."


	2. Chapter 2

**Boop. I'm back. And I'm in a slump, to be honest with you guys. I'm only posting for something to take my mind off my zero inspiration. I'm trying to crank out what I can, but I've sat at the computer now for almost an hour and I've cranked out literally a page. Just one page for one hour. At that rate, I'll finish the next chapter within like five... and I don't have that much time, really. But I'm gonna try anyway!**

**Yeah.. anyways, lots of good stuff in this one. I kinda feel like DJ MacHale: drop a big bomb and then just stop. That's what I did here... sorta. Read and you guys will understand. **

**I'll stop babbling now so you guys can read. Enjoy! **

"Put this in the GPS."

The Butler looked down at the sheet of paper his charge was holding out of him. He took it gingerly, reading over it and then frowning. It was quite obviously Holly's final flight path, but there was something off about it.

Artemis caught a glance of his face and smiled grimly. "You recognize the site too, do you?"

Butler nodded. "It cuts off right in the same area that we kidnapped Captain Short."

"Yes," Artemis agreed, "but look here." He pushed the paper down flat on his bed and pointed at the dot that marked Holly's locator and her flight path… or rather, the end of it. "The position of the beacon, when the flight path cuts off. It's angled rather high above that site, which suggests that she is in the air. But then it cuts off."

The human paused and looked at his bodyguard. He was nodding, but he could see that Butler didn't really understand what he was trying to point out. Sighing, he folded the map up and handed it back to him. If he doesn't understand it now, he won't, thought the boy. There's no proof yet, anyways - no need to bring it up before it's necessary.

He brushed himself off and sighed. "Come," he ordered quietly. "Let's go and see what we can do."

oOoOoOoOoOo

The Ritual site was seemingly deserted when they got there, but Artemis didn't mind. He knew how deceiving looks could be, and it didn't deter him in the slightest.

"Anybody skilled enough to kidnap Holly, with all her strength and training, will also have the ability to cover their tracks. Look around and see if there's anything they may have missed. The slightest thing will make a difference here."

So they searched, For two hours, they scoured and searched the whole sight and surrounding area, with no incriminating evidence to be seen.

Well. Scratch that. Technically, there _was _what could have been considered incriminating evidence, if it had been real. But it wasn't. As Artemis quickly deducted, it was all fake.

By the oak tree, the edge of the river, and some of the surrounding area between, there was scuff and smudge marks indentations and imprints in the dirt, and even some blood. But it was obviously all staged; there was no sign of the Captain's lost equipment, minus her helmet - but the mark it had left was perfectly clear and distinguishable, which it wouldn't have been if it was dropped or even scooped up with haste. The boot marks and scuffs, upon closer inspection, had come from the same pair of boots. The pattern on the heel and the smooth indentation of the sole matched everywhere, and there were no other footprints besides their own. And the blood... well, that just didn't match up at all.

"What do you make of this?" his bodyguard asked quietly, after some time of watching the boy stare off at the area in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Artemis looked up at the man and shook his head silently. The look in his eyes was almost… sad? Disappointed? He didn't know; the emotion was gone as soon as it hit. "It's all fake, Butler."

At first, he didn't comprehend. "Uh.. what?" Then he recovered. "Say again, sir?"

Artemis smiled. "You heard me right. It's all fake. This whole crime scene… it's all set up."

"But who would do such a thing?"

"Well," said the human thoughtfully, "I don't know. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that it might have been Holly."

"Holly?" repeated the manservant dumbly. "But that doesn't make any sense! Why would she fake her own kidnapping?"

Artemis shrugged. "You expect me to know? I deducted the crime scene is fake, but I cannot be sure as to why it was faked. It's none of my concern, anyways - I only agreed to retrace her footsteps for signs of her. Well, we found signs; now we can report back to the Commander and be done with it."

Butler nodded, but he was frowning. Something about it didn't sit right with him. "So we're just going to leave it? We won't even ask if they found her?"

Artemis shook his head and started back toward the car. "Not exactly, no. When I say be done with it, I mean we will be done with this task, and dealing with the LEP. I may continue to look into this issue, however. I am - how do I put this? - rather intrigued by this turn of events." He stopped by the door on his side of the Bentley and shrugged once more. "Aren't you?"

Butler just smirked a little and nodded. Even he couldn't deny that this whole scenario made him more than a little curious.

After that, the ride home was silent.

They got back to the Manor soon to find Mrs. Fowl in the front hall as they entered, waiting for them.

As soon as they entered, she came up and grabbed her son, wrapping her arms around his scrawny body and hugging him tightly. However, contrary to her actions, when she released him, she was scowling. "Don't ever sneak out like that again, Artemis. You scared me half to death. And you," she added, turning to Butler and poking a finger into his stomach, which just so happened to be the highest thing she could reach. "I can't believe you condoned to that."

Butler shook his head shamefully and looked at his charge. Artemis just inclined his head slightly, knowing what he was wanting, then looked at his mother. "I apologize, Mother. I had ordered Butler to do as I asked without doing me in by telling you. I knew you wouldn't approve of me going out in my condition."

Angeline grumbled lightly, but she did turn away from the bodyguard. "Well, you were right about that. The only thing stopping me from ordering you back to bed is the fact that you have a visitor."

In that moment, Artemis was shocked, but also suddenly overwhelmed with gratefulness at the fact that his life's work required him to be able to have a poker face to match the best, otherwise his surprise surely would have shown through. "A guest?" he asked calmly, not looking at Butler even though he could feel the gaze of the manservant on him. "I was not anticipating any guests. Who is here?"

A voice drifted down the hall, almost like a whisper, a ghost from his past come back to haunt him. But no; it was real, loud and clear, and the small form of a girl in leaning in the doorway to the kitchen was no illusion.

"Me, of course," said Captain Holly Short from the doorway, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Who else?"

**So.. big bomb or what, people? I befuddled all of you more now, I bet. Who wants the next chapter? **

**So do I... I'll work on it. **


End file.
